I have come back to this story again and again and the original Andor Drakon character in my AD&D 1st edition campaign kind of was inspired by Volk. Now the circle is closed as the story by Tanith Lee will serve as the inspiration for a new story arc in JADE, a story arc that will show off some more cool feature already possible with the JADE engine. Stay tuned.
BTW, I should mention that one of the most inhibiting factors to a lot more story based stuff right is that still a lot of basic stuff is missing (spells, spell effects, traps, more professions). These things simply are needed to craft more compelling stories so all in all you still will have to be patient for more stories. But they are creeping into the game more and more and that's a good thing ;-)
Oh, and here is the cover of the German issue:
Also, having more stuff means a more interesting game, so if lacking them inhibits you from writing good stories, leave the stories until more pressing stuff is implemented.
ReplyDeleteThere is only one thing I need to press: I feel JADE is going to be a much better game than ADOM, as ADOM is getting worn out from playing the same quests and levels again and again, while JADE gives you a new world to play in every time. So watch out: Everything you hard-code into JADE make the world less interesting to explore once you've seen it. Having DC is nice, it gives you somewhere to start and brings up nostalgia, but having more pre-decided locations as well as multiple persistent quests, makes the game more about the pre-generated stuff, and less about the open world you can explore.
I haven't read the Volkhavaar and know nothing about it, but it's good to have an unusual inspiration (as it seems to be from your rescription). Too many clichéd LOTR-esque "save the world" storylines is dull, and I'd like to see something different. A wide range of influences, whether in storytelling, music or visual arts, is always necessary to avoid being limited. So I'm looking forward to see what you come up with.
ReplyDeleteI'd also like to see plots with random elements to make them less predictable, or even completely procedurally generated stories. GearHead is a roguelike with a plot generator, and although I haven't played it at all, the idea is interesting.